Social Democrat Gernot Erler appointed coordinator of German-Russian co-operation

BERLIN, January 10. /ITAR-TASS/. Germany’s Social Democrat politician Gernot Erler will become a new Coordinator for German-Russian Intersocietal Co-operation, the German Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

Erler will replace Andreas Schockenhoff, Germany's coordinator for Russian politics known for his critical position towards Russia’s authorities. Schockenhoff was one of the initiators of a tough resolution on the situation in Russia, passed in the German Bundestag earlier.

Erler, 69, urges a closer co-operation with Russia. From 2005 to 2009 he served as the Minister of State in the Federal Foreign Office and already then was Germany's coordinator for social ties with Russia.

Besides, the German government will appoint Philipp Missfelder, the foreign policy speaker of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag, as a new Coordinator for Transatlantic Co-operation. He will replace FDP member Harald Leibrecht, who has held this post since July 2011.